After a week in glorious, super-green Devon it may look, at first glance, that there's very little green 'up North' yet in comparison. But, on closer inspection, there are pockets of green shoots everywhere - from the hawthorn bushes to the tiny seeds in the polytunnel.
It's these tiny glimmers of hope for spring (and, dare I say it 'summer'?) that keep us northern gardeners going at this time of year. I'm afraid I'm about to be brought back down to earth with a bump this weekend though, if the weather forecast of heavy snow is true to its word.
The green manure above (grown in the polytunnel overwinter from seeds I gathered from the wildflower meadow last year) is doing really well, and is busy boosting nutrients in the border soil.
Peter and I sowed Prew's Special heritage peas in guttering this morning (this makes it easier to simply slide the peas into a prepared trench when they're ready to go outside, without disturbing their roots). We also prepared a couple of trays of 'living greens' - Greek cress and purple radish - which you eat when they're tiny shoots rather than leaving to grow to full size. I've never tried this before, so it's a bit of an experiment.
A combined effort between me, Peter and Alan meant the second row of the native hedge is now finished, and there's even some leftover for another hedge elsewhere.
I'm taking part in Garden Organic's trials this year, and one of them is comparing old and new varieties of lettuce and tomato, which I started off today, as well as sowing some of South Devon chilli farm's hot chillis.
Yesterday, the school group planted the first of the potatoes (Ambo) and we also sowed carrots, parsnips and radishes in containers.
I'm going to have to resist taking too much off the rhubarb in its first year, as it already looks lovely. Good job I've got an established plant in my own garden to provide for those essential rhubarb crumbles....
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